Are bloggers ruining Flyertalk????
May 8, 2012, 6:23 pm
#46
Join Date: Dec 2009
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I can't wait to read all the blog postings responding to this thread. 
May 8, 2012, 6:25 pm
#47
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
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Hey, what's wrong with looking at these opportunities with the eyes of a capitalist? If you play the game at a professional level the take is greater.
Just don't kill the golden goose by making it over produce.
Just don't kill the golden goose by making it over produce.
May 8, 2012, 6:30 pm
#48
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: HNL
Posts: 781
To answer the thread title, I think the obvious answer is no. Sure some deals might be overexposed and die early deaths but that's no real skin off my back and I don't think flyertalk depends on exploitation of deals to survive.
I don't really enjoy some of the spoonfeeding that has gone on in blogs but I'll take the good and the bad from the blogs as just another part of the game. I guess that's what this is to me, just an enjoyable game to be played and I'm not worried that bloggers will ruin my enjoyment of this game.
Agreed.
This pretty much sums up my feelings on things.
I don't really enjoy some of the spoonfeeding that has gone on in blogs but I'll take the good and the bad from the blogs as just another part of the game. I guess that's what this is to me, just an enjoyable game to be played and I'm not worried that bloggers will ruin my enjoyment of this game.
Agreed.
The bloggers are motivated to promote themselves for profit. That is neither good, nor bad - just reality. So just keep your tradecraft off the boards and away from the bloggers. Doesn't mean you cannot share info, just share it underground instead of in public where the bloggers will highly publicize it.
May 8, 2012, 6:33 pm
#49
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Land of the parrots and parrotheads
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Ummm - most, but not all children. ADK, Jr. has long cruised and travelled abroad since age one, in addition to camping in Europe, snorkeling the sand bars off Grand Cayman and diving in Disneyworld.
Well, the trouble with that argument is that we were all children once, and we frequently observe children in the course of our travels, and "think of the children" just don't fly, Mommypoints. Children want to go to camp or to the beach or to Disneyworld. They do not want to go to Paris or Fiji...
May 8, 2012, 6:36 pm
#50
Join Date: Dec 2006
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It certainly is a complex issue. However (A) I do not believe you should be picking on people with less than 100 posts. Many individuals perform due diligence but tend to lurk. (B) The main issue is that people want instant gratification like in many aspects of life. Thus instead of using common sense they exploit deals. There may be a purpose for both if used properly. That said like many say of the intricacies don't need to be stated outright. It is a huge red flag when individuals without status know the fine details of programs.
May 8, 2012, 6:38 pm
#51
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Well, the trouble with that argument is that we were all children once, and we frequently observe children in the course of our travels, and "think of the children" just don't fly, Mommypoints. Children want to go to camp or to the beach or to Disneyworld. They do not want to go to Paris or Fiji. There is no social service involved in putting entire families including small children in the air.
There's nothing wrong with being a blogger, collecting information, and making a living. But let's not pretend that this is helping children or that it's good for children or that the children even enjoy it. The kids are miserable. It's about the parents and trying to show up the other soccer moms on the playground.
I wish you had made a reasonable argument for yourself, because there's a good argument to be made for these blogs. "Think of the children" just makes me hurl, frankly.
There's nothing wrong with being a blogger, collecting information, and making a living. But let's not pretend that this is helping children or that it's good for children or that the children even enjoy it. The kids are miserable. It's about the parents and trying to show up the other soccer moms on the playground.
I wish you had made a reasonable argument for yourself, because there's a good argument to be made for these blogs. "Think of the children" just makes me hurl, frankly.
May 8, 2012, 6:38 pm
#52
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
There are just too many blogs trying to write about too little content that they end up outdoing themselves. Most of the time, the purpose of the blog isn't to help the readers, but to establish themselves as the ultimate authority fo everything which drives people to sign up using their affiliate links.
Absolutely. Mommy Points, I don't read your blog often, but the times I have read it I have not seen anything that separates your blog from any other blog. While the nature of your blog may attract families and other mothers, there's no content on there differentiate this- is anything, using points for vacation travel will yield less value per point than other uses.
And most of all, "think of the children" is not a cogent argument for promoting the usage of miles for less than their maximum value.
Well, the trouble with that argument is that we were all children once, and we frequently observe children in the course of our travels, and "think of the children" just don't fly, Mommypoints. Children want to go to camp or to the beach or to Disneyworld. They do not want to go to Paris or Fiji. There is no social service involved in putting entire families including small children in the air.
There's nothing wrong with being a blogger, collecting information, and making a living. But let's not pretend that this is helping children or that it's good for children or that the children even enjoy it. The kids are miserable. It's about the parents and trying to show up the other soccer moms on the playground.
I wish you had made a reasonable argument for yourself, because there's a good argument to be made for these blogs. "Think of the children" just makes me hurl, frankly.
There's nothing wrong with being a blogger, collecting information, and making a living. But let's not pretend that this is helping children or that it's good for children or that the children even enjoy it. The kids are miserable. It's about the parents and trying to show up the other soccer moms on the playground.
I wish you had made a reasonable argument for yourself, because there's a good argument to be made for these blogs. "Think of the children" just makes me hurl, frankly.
Love it. Couldn't agree more. Kids would have far more fun spending the night in a tree house in the back yard and spending the day at a nearby lake or beach or at the local amusement park than they would spending a night in some ritzy Marriott or Hilton in San Fran or Paris or Rome and exploring the Louvre or Coliseum. Never could understand why parents bother bringing little kids to such places when they are too young to really enjoy and appreciate the experience. I guess some have more money and/or miles than they know what to do with. Yup, in most cases it's more about what they parents appreciate than it is with the kids.
May 8, 2012, 6:40 pm
#53
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 2,400
Without the internet, these blogs would not exist. If the blogs didnt exist, neither would the deals. Let the bloggers have at it. They normally are a day late and a dollar short.
There is a similar discussion on Mystery Shopping on a website I frequent. Every once in a while there will be a blogger or TV show that attempts to profit off of giving "insider information". It is pretty much old information that anyone with any knowledge of the industry at all will disregard, or have long been aware of and have moved beyond.
If the people who listen or read about it are lazy, they will give up quickly. If they are knowledgeable and persistent, they will find deals, to post here, that may help all of us long before the bloggers find it.
In the mean time, there will always be deals to be had.
There is a similar discussion on Mystery Shopping on a website I frequent. Every once in a while there will be a blogger or TV show that attempts to profit off of giving "insider information". It is pretty much old information that anyone with any knowledge of the industry at all will disregard, or have long been aware of and have moved beyond.
If the people who listen or read about it are lazy, they will give up quickly. If they are knowledgeable and persistent, they will find deals, to post here, that may help all of us long before the bloggers find it.
In the mean time, there will always be deals to be had.
May 8, 2012, 6:45 pm
#55
Join Date: Aug 2011
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May 8, 2012, 6:45 pm
#56
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 231
I also agree that bloggers are ruining FT. I have been around off and on for approx. 10 years and this is the worst for ruining any good deals due to them. Wish there was a way to keep good deals away from them.
May 8, 2012, 6:46 pm
#57
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Perhaps a "master blog blacklist" where blogs could be named and shamed for killing deals would keep bloggers from blabbing everything in order to increase their own affiliate revenue?
May 8, 2012, 6:50 pm
#58
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: ICT
Programs: AA ExP
Posts: 1,860
My sympathies are certainly with the OP, but I would have two thoughts I hope folks find pertinent:
- Not all bloggers are created equal. Some spoonfeed killable deals and others do not. I have blogger friends that know some very high level deals that they refuse to blog about because that would kill it.
- We can't stop the blogging train and crying over spilt milk has never increased one's productivity. The successful FT'ers have already adapted and still have a rich repertoire of private deals.
May 8, 2012, 6:51 pm
#60
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 463
I personally don't have a problem with bloggers pushing the credit cards, but when they write about stuff that clearly cannot support the weight of the masses, that is a problem. Look what happened when Airfare watch dog wrote about fuel dumping, had quite an effect on that.